Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great grandson, Verol Truman Johnson was buried at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois.

Verol was born June 22, 1923 to Matilda "Tilda" S (Hansen) and Truman Levi Johnson in Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois. He died on July 22, 1954 in Velasco, Brazoria county, Texas due to an accidental drowning.

Tilda was born October 29, 1892 in Illinois and died August 1979 in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois.

Tilda was buried alongside her parents, sister Mary (Hansen) and brother-in-law, Ralph Ruckman. Here is a photo of the family plot.

There is no record that Truman, who had passed away 10 years earlier, was buried at the Lawnridge Cemetery. He died in Oak Park, Cook county, Illinois so he may be buried at a cemetery in the Cook county area.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mari and Ole Finnestad's great grandson, Elmer Levi Johnson was buried a few rows away from his parents Andrea Elizabeth (Knutson) and Lambert Johnson at the St John's Lutheran Cemetery (South) near Cylinder, Iowa.

Elmer was born August 12, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa and died March 20, 1919, also in Cylinder Iowa. Elmer went back to Palo Alto county, Iowa sometime prior to registering for the draft during World War I. I'm not sure whether Elmer had ever actually served based upon the disqualification listed on his draft registration card even though his headstone included the "US Veteran" marker.

After the death of his mother (Lizzie), Elmer was raised by his grandparents, Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas (Andrew) Knutson in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois. The 1900 US Census listed his name as Elmer "Leway" which made it difficult to track down his parents, Andrea and Lambert Johnson.